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It is natural for parents to worry about their children throughout the day when they are out of sight at school or away from home. The one place they should never worry for their child is when they are home. Unfortunately, parents do worry when they leave their children alone in front of the television. There are many shows these days containing violence, sexual content, and adult language that are easily accessible to anyone with a remote control. The question for today's parents is how to allow their children access to only the good, educational programs on television and not the adult-themed programs without sitting and watching with them. Satellite Television provider DirecTV has found the answer and is offering it free to every one of their customers. It is called Parental Controls, and parents everywhere are thankful for it.

TV Shows Are Rated Like the Movies

DirecTV's Parental Controls feature protects children on several levels. The program is mainly based around the rating system that is now required by the government for every show on television. Just as with movies, TV shows are required to have a certain rating based on their content in order to help parents decide what is proper viewing material for their children. A rating of R in movies is the same as a rating of TVMA in television. PG for movies is TVPG for television and so on. These ratings for television shows can be found in the program listings/guide of the satellite system and in the top corner at the beginning of every show. Now, let's see how DirecTV's Parental Controls uses the ratings system to make life less worrisome for parents.

A PIN Number Controls It All

Parental Controls works within the Direct TV Satellite system to block specific shows, movies, and even entire channels. The parent decides what they want to block their child from viewing by using the easy-to-understand instructions within the Satellite Program Setup. Parents set what type of ratings for shows and movies they want blocked as well as entire channels if they desire to. However, these are not blocked forever. Parental Controls requires the parent to establish a 4-digit PIN number like you would have with a Bank Card. The parents, and those they share it with, are the only ones that know this PIN. When a child is channel surfing and they come upon a program or channel the parent has blocked, the Direct TV Satelite System asks for the preset PIN number before allowing anyone to watch. Since the child does not know the PIN number, they cannot watch. Since the parents do know the PIN number, they can watch.

Parent Controls Other Functions

This Direct TV Satelite function also allows you to set limited viewing times to prevent children, or even adults, from watching television all day and night. You also can set spending limits. One of the great benefits of Satelite TV is the wide variety and numerous Pay-Per-View programs available. Parental Controls lets you set a spending limit on how many of these programs can be ordered. It's a great way to keep from being surprised with an enormous bill of unknown purchases. Parental Controls is just one of the many great features that Satelite Television provider Direct TV has to offer. With this and all its other innovative technologies, it is no wonder why they have over 16 million customers with more joining every day.